RE: [TruthTalk] from O'Reilley to you

[ShieldsFamily]

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jonathan Hughes Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 4:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [TruthTalk] from O'Reilley to you   Izzy, we have had this conversation a number of times.  The latest is from a thread entitled Moralism versus Christianity.  Please look it up in the archives.   In brief summation moralism is just good behaviour as defined by the society that you live in.  It has nothing to do with God or Christianity.  This is why a Muslim and a member of a tribe in Papua New Guinea can be moral.  They do not go against their conscience in their behaviour.  It does not involve a relationship with our Creator.  What moralism needs is to be made subject to Jesus Christ.  There is one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ, not moral behavoiur.  Moralism stands in the way of you and I being able to illustrate to our neighbours the reality of their salvation.  A moral person out of touch with his Creator does not need salvation.  Why, they are already good.  Moralism needs to be pointed out as deficient, a path that on the surface looks ‘good’ but in reality is damning.  Once submitted to the Triune God things change rapidly.    Jonathan   Dearest Jonathan,   Perhaps you know better what the word “moral” means than anyone else who speaks English.  Poor ignorant me, I just agree with the dictionary which states the following: mor·al  Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character: moral scrutiny; a moral quandary. Teaching or exhibiting goodness or correctness of character and behavior: a moral lesson. Conforming to standards of what is right or just in behavior; virtuous: a moral life. Arising from conscience or the sense of right and wrong: a moral obligation. You seem to assume that all morals are based upon secular/cultural agencies.  Why would you, a Believer, make such an assumption? We are people of the Word, and our values are God’s values, and our morals are based upon such.  The conscience of a Believer is not seared or secular—it is Holy Spirit infused.  A moral Believer is never out of touch with his Creator.  The fact that you dispute this appalls me.   As for non-believers, would you rather they have no basis of right and wrong? Do you think God judges them for their behavior? Would you rather they sin more or less? Do you think that the Hindu woman who gave half of her food to her neighbor was wrong to do the moral thing? Why would anyone be against moral behavior?  It is not difficult to convince a moral non-Believer that he is a sinner.  It is impossible to convince a non-believer who has no conscience at all that he is a sinner.   It was a moral man who prayed, “God help me, a sinner.”  It was an immoral man who said proudly, “I am glad I am not a sinner like the rest.”  Which are you?   Izzy